Showing posts with label furnace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label furnace. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

great weekend, changing some things around, and a hot, sticky mess

 Hello, friends! I hope those of you in the US had a wonderful, long holiday weekend.
It was a quiet Memorial Day weekend around here. One of my aunts visited
on Saturday for a few hours and then Tim came home on Sunday. Brian grilled
fresh bratwurst sausages from the butcher and I made potato salad. It was just the
three of us and it was perfect. Monday was hot and humid and our AC wasn't working
so we hung out in the basement family room and watched movies. Then we went out
to dinner and sat there for two hours having a great conversation. It is so cool to
be at the point in your life where you can have an adult conversation with your child
on a variety of topics. I'm so thankful we have such a close relationship.


 I moved some side tables in the house. I had a black cabinet next to this ladder
bookshelf, under the home sign. I replaced it with a lighter arrangement. Not too
sure what I think of this yet...you know me, constantly rearranging things! It might
be different later this week. Sometimes I just have to play with things and live
with it awhile to see how I like it. Other times, I know immediately if an arrangement
doesn't work.
 

I put the black cabinet next to the couch as an end table.


 And then the black spindle table that used to be the end table, got 
moved into Tim's room.


Speaking of Tim's room (that we're still updating), I found a red rug at IKEA...


 and ordered a masculine winter comforter from overstock.com. It's cotton
and very thick - great quality. But obviously too hot for the summer. So the red
and white checked thin cotton quilt will stay on the bed for the summer.


Back to moving tables around...this black table that you see in the corner of my
office was previously in front of the living room window topped with a lot of plants.



 I then moved those house plants out onto the front porch for the summer.


 So I mentioned at the beginning that it was hot and humid (my bare feet are sticking
 to the hardwood floors and even my kitchen cabinets are sticking to the frames!) 
and that our AC isn't working. We thought it was an electrical issue in the basement
 so we had an electrician come out to the house today. He did fix some loose wires in 
the basement light fixture that Brian recently put in and then we had him install a new
 outlet in Tim's room on a wall that didn't have an outlet. But the electrician said that 
our AC and furnace not working was not an electrical or circuit issue. The weird thing is,
 the furnace and AC stopped working exactly when Brian was installing that
replacement light fixture. We are crossing our fingers and praying that we don't need
 a new furnace or air conditioner - or both! But we also realize that we've been living
on borrowed time...


Both the furnace and central air conditioning unit are the original units of the house ~
25 years old! The electrician said it might be something as simple as that we need
a new thermostat - which is also original to the house. So now we have to have a 
heating and AC man come and check things out. Frustrating and nerve-wracking,
especially with having financial constrictions.


I am now heading out to my air-conditioned yoga class. Good thing I
don't practice hot yoga!

Friday, November 29, 2013

giving thanks

 We had such a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house.
Mom always outdoes herself with homemade everything, including
the rolls. I helped out by making roasted carrots and parsnips, corn casserole,
 and cranberry-orange relish. I love this photo of Tim watching  his grandma cooking
 - he was so hungry and kept picking at the turkey and asking  when dinner was going
 to be ready. I think my mom's little dog, LuLu was hoping for a turkey handout, too.
No such luck. People food makes her sick.


It was a small bunch of us this year. Brian, me, our family friend, Glenn, cousin
Greg, my mom...and Tim was taking the photo. Sorry for the bad quality of
all these photos - I was using my phone.


Mom made a homemade pecan pie for desert. Her recipe is in this cookbook from 
1978. We lived in Russell County, Kentucky back then. I'm not too fond of pecan pie, 
but it's one of Brian's favorites.


 We really missed those relatives who chose to go their own ways this
year (gotta love family drama) and those who are no longer with us on
this earth...my dad; our son, Phil; my great-uncle; and just this year, Brian's
sister, my grandpa, and my great-aunt.
PS - I love this man and am so grateful for him.


No Thanksgiving day or Black Friday shopping here for us. I don't believe in 
supporting retailers who chose to be open on Thanksgiving day, which forces
 their employees to take time away from family and/or friends. And you couldn't 
pay me to shop with hoards of people all fighting over the latest gadget and deal. 
Not to mention, we're on a very tight budget and don't have the extra shopping
money, anyway! Other news: our furnace went out on Thanksgiving morning.
Cousin Greg brought three space heaters to my mom's house for us yesterday,
so even though our house was very cold, we were fine sleeping last night.
A repairman came today and discovered it was the gas valve. Four hundred
dollars later, our 25-year old furnace is back in business. Even though that expense
 really hurt, we are thankful that it wasn't worse - such as replacing the furnace itself. 
This day of gratitude wouldn't be complete without me thanking all of you for
reading my blog and being so supportive. My life is enriched because of you.